What Happens With Tiebreakers For Division Title?

We’re going to be taking daily looks at the various playoff races starting next week, so this is the final entry into the “if the season ended today” series. It was all in good fun and in no way intended to be some kind of serious analysis. Here’s a snapshot of where things stand right now:

The A’s managed to open up a nice little 3.5-game lead in the AL West and the other two division races are pretty much over with. Both the Rangers and Rays are reeling and in danger of losing their wild-card spots — the Yankees (1.0 GB), Indians (1.5 GB), Royals (2.5 GB) and Orioles (2.5 GB) are all right on their heels.

The Braves and Dodgers have huge division leads, but the Cardinals and Pirates are currently tied atop the NL Central with identical 85-61 records. Under the old system, they would use head-to-head record to determine who won the division and who was the wild-card team. Under the new system, they will have to play a one-game tiebreaker to determine the division winner. So they’d have to play a one-game playoff to figure out who plays in the next the one-game playoff. Fun stuff.